Sunday, October 28, 2012

Muncie Fox Hunt Results

MAARC Fox Logo, Live Red Fox with mouth wide open
Courtesy Peter G. Trimming (CC License)
It was windy and cold, but the fox was found !

We had only two hunters out on Saturday, but it was a successful game and a fun time for all involved.

Participants:

Fox: Ryan N9TIG and family
Hunters: Wayne WD9HPQ, Robert KB7ZGB
Fox Location: Thomas Park, Westside Utility Easement
Total Time: 1 hr, 20 minutes

With only two hunters, Wayne and Robert formed a team and traveled in one car.  Initial bearings from Downtown indicated South with significant reflections.

1st fix: Heekin Park, 12th & Madison.  Stronger signal, bearings indicated SSW with notable multipath reflections.  Hunters decided to eliminate the Southern signal by trying to go past the fox.

2nd fix: Southway Center @ Marsh's Parking lot, 29th & Madison.  Weak signal on 3-Element beam, clear bearing NW.

3rd fix: Maring-Hunt Library Community Garden, 13th & Liberty.  Strong signal and sharp bearing W.

4th fix; Thomas Park @ SE Corner, 15th & Rochester.  Very strong signal, unclear bearings indicating S to W.  Hunters decided to rule out reflections with relative signal strength averages while mobile.

5th fix (Mobile): Compared relative signal strength using two radios, a 1/4 wave mag mount and a duck inside the car.  Course began heading S from (a) 15th & Rochester to (b) 19th & Hoyt, then NE to (c) 12th & Hoyt, then W back to (d) Thomas Park @ NE Corner.  S-Meter readings and signal quality clearly placed the fox in the immediate vicinity of Thomas Park.  Hunters had a clear view of the entire park, fox was nowhere in sight.

6th fix: Previous location at Thomas Park @ SE Corner, 15th & Rochester.  Same ambiguous bearings showing S to W, very strong signal.  S was ruled out with the mobile fix, Hunters proceeded W on 15th St.

FOX FOUND:  Far W side of Thomas Park in the utility easement behind landscape trees.  The chain link fence around the baseball diamond really made this a challenge in close.


Here's an interactive map of the hunt.  Zoom in/out, drag to move, click the icons for more info.

View MAARC Fox Hunt 27Oct12 in a larger map

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sound like you guys had a great time in the hunt, and thank Robert for making this web page easy to navigate.

scanner listener: Jim
PS. Thanks KB7ZGB for visiting Connection Corner

Robert, KB7ZGB said...

We certainly did have a great time Jim, thanks kindly for your comment. Next time we go out hunting, I hope you will have time to join us. If you have a handheld scanner, bring it along-- it'll work fine for radio direction finding.


Happy trails,
- Robert, KB7ZGB

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